City Noise
by mercurymoon7490195
Summary: Ryo's thoughts as he waits for Yugi to return from his long day as a guest speaker for a duel monsters convention. Post Season 5 Heartshipping.


The streets of New York were busy and loud, the noise soaking through the walls of the hotel room. It was always there, the grating, gritty background of honking cars and footsteps, undeterred by concrete walls.

Ryo sighed as he turned the radio up a little louder, slipping farther into the steamy foam of his bathwater. He was trying to keep calm, to distance himself from the bustle outside and the jitters stirring in his heart.

_What if something happens to him on the way back?_ A finger swirled the vanilla bubbles around him in thought, letting them wash over him and meld with his hair. _What if the limo crashes, or there's a shoot-out, or he gets attacked by some rival duelist?_

He sat up, hugging his knees to his chest. When he had agreed to accompany Yugi to the annual Duel Monsters Convention, to which Pegasus had personally invited the King of Games as a guest speaker, he had imagined to be going with his partner...not sitting back in their suite, worrying.

_Surely,_ he thought, staring into the bubbles. _Surely New York couldn't be any more dangerous than Domino, could it?_

Suddenly the sounds from the hall spilled into the room as the door opened, weary footsteps slipping inside before the hall noise was silenced once more. Ryo tensed, turning down the volume and sinking lower in the water.

"Hello?" he called out tentatively, listening as the footsteps neared the door.

"Hey," Yugi's voice mumbled. "May I come in?"

"Of course," Ryo let out a sigh of relief. Yugi opened the door and leaned against it, closing his eyes. The boy watched him worriedly from the tub. "Are you-"

"-Fine," Yugi said with a soft smile, kneeling down beside the tub. "Just tired." He leaned down and gave Ryo a kiss on the cheek, resting his head against the white marble of the tub. "Those convention-goers are brutal."

"What?" Ryo asked, alarmed. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"

Yugi chuckled sadly, undoing his tie. "Not physically, no," he muttered. He frowned down at his feet, letting the tie droop in his hand. "All of their questions were about when...when he was still here. Other me..."

"Ah..." Ryo bit his lip. "They didn't know..."

"I know," Yugi said with a sigh. "It didn't make them any easier. Some of them I didn't even know how to answer, or he would have had a better reply..." He threw his tie onto the counter. "Do you mind sharing?"

"Hm?" Ryo glanced from Yugi to the hand hovering over the top button. "Oh, sure." Water sloshed onto the floor as he scooted over, blushing as Yugi shed his suit and climbed into the tub next to him. It was a large tub, though not as big as he had thought, as more water went onto the floor as they shuffled around, trying to get comfortable.

"Maybe this was a bad idea," Ryo spluttered, laughing slightly. "Ah...hands! Watch your hands!"

"Sorry," Yugi grinned sheepishly, somehow finding a spot in the tangle of limbs and water. Awkwardly, he pushed himself up to reach Ryo's face. "I missed you today," he said softly before pressing his lips to the taller boy's.

Ryo kissed him back, fingers winding in the wet spikes atop his partner's forehead for a moment before he pulled away, taking Yugi's hand in his. "I missed you too," he said, resting his head on the other boy's shoulder. "So...aside from the obnoxious fans, how was it?"

Yugi shrugged, turning around resting in Ryo's arms as he mused over his answer. "Busy...loud...like the rest of the city, I suppose. Lots of people with short attention spans...oh, and Pegasus was trying to flirt with Kaiba for the last hour and a half."

"No kidding," Ryo laughed. "Kaiba and Pegasus?"

Yugi nodded. "They had alcohol in the green room for the guest speakers, and Pegasus must have...indulged in it at some point. Kaiba was two seconds away from either punching him or letting Pegasus drag him back to some spare room...with him it's hard to tell." He reached over and grabbed the shampoo, massaging it into his hair. "So what did you do all day then? I'm sorry they wouldn't let you into the convention with me..."

"I'm just glad I got to come with you at all," Ryo said. "I went and walked around a little, visited some cool shops and things. There's a little bookstore right down the street, the kind with a cafe and comfy chairs...spent a bit of time in there, reading." His hands joined Yugi's in the tangle of hair and fingers, working the shampoo around. "Maybe we can go there tomorrow at some point? Together?"

"That sounds wonderful." Yugi replied, leaning back into Ryo's hands. "I don't have to be back at the con until later tomorrow afternoon, and we do have the hotel room until the end of the week. We should get as much sight seeing in as possible."

Ryo smiled, laying gentle kisses behind his ear. "Let's," he echoed. He turned Yugi's head and kissed him properly, closing his eyes. The noise of the city still penetrated the walls, though it was dimmed by the blood rushing through his head. By the water lapping against the side of the bath tub and the sound of Yugi's lips against his and the softly playing music from the radio next to him.

He broke away to catch his breath, caressing the boy's face. "You know what?" he asked softly, pulling out of Yugi's grip and standing, reaching for a towel. "Why don't we go exploring now? If you're not too tired, I mean."

Yugi ducked his head under the water, rinsing the shampoo out of his hair. Standing, he joined the white-haired boy in the open air. "I'm not too tired," he said slowly, drying himself off. "But I think there's something we should do first." He wrapped the towel around his waist and held out a hand, opening the bathroom door and leading his lover towards the large bed. He kissed him down onto the pillow, fingers splayed across the boy's pale chest.

Ryo wrapped his arms around him, pulling him close. _I don't want to go,_ he thought dazedly as Yugi traced the contours of his back. _I don't want to go back to college and everything waiting for me back in Domino._ "I don't want to leave this," he whispered aloud, his face pressed into Yugi's shoulder. "Ever..."

"We still have awhile," Yugi replied gently. "Let's make the most of it."

Outside their window, the cars continued to honk to the chatter of people walking in the streets; the noises of the city as inextinguishable as ever. But inside they were muted, drowned out by kisses and music and whispers, much needed after a long day.


End file.
